Why I make things
My art practice is most often based on the use of ceramic materials. To touch and manipulate clay is a purposeful and emotional experience. The plasticity of a clay body allows me the freedom to manipulate the form with flexibility and create intentional forms that possess soft and flowing movements. The physical tendencies of clay permit an uninhibited conversation between the creator and material to cultivate fluid making. The aspect of creating that incites my work is the unique nature by which my movement influences the clay. It is the dialogue between my touch and the material that allows the creation of something entirely new to be brought into existence.
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My intention is to provoke the same sense of potential, uncertainty, and wonder in the viewer that I feel in the creation process. Through utilizing ceramic materials I am able to contextualize the fascination I experience when forming the clay. Though the finished product is intended to incite interaction from the viewer; the act of making is entirely for my own learning. Ceramics remains the driving force in my creative process as it allows me to use touch to affect the outcome of the work directly. The malleability of clay allows unrestricted expression and experimentation; it is this freedom that grants me the ability to surpass what I perceive to be my own limitations.
Bio
Brianna Sopourn is a visual artist who focuses on the use of ceramic materials. The transformative nature of clay has fascinated her since her first encounter with the material. To create intentional objects from something as simple as mud allowed for the expression of the limitless imagination to become tangible. God placed an intense love of clay in her heart, which led Sopourn to earn a Bachelor's in Fine Arts with a concentration in ceramics from Florida Atlantic University and go onto continue her studies there in the ceramic Post-Baccalaureate program. Sopourn is currently a faculty member at the Coral Springs Museum of Art, sharing her passion for ceramics with people of all ages. This position is dear to her as she teaches at the museum in which she learned her love for art as a young child.
Though versed in various media such as printmaking, painting, sculpture, photography, and collage, Sopourn employs clay as a primary building material due to the endless potentiality of the ceramic medium. Clay allows freedom to create three-dimensional forms birthed from the imagination that would otherwise be unrealized visions. Sopourn deliberately designs structures that will enhance her building skills as well as challenge the limits of the material's stability. Conceptually, her work provides abstract ideological concepts physical forms. Her newest series centers around her reflections on how to communicate Biblical and spiritual teachings through shape, color, and form. Sopourn's artistic practice is founded on Biblical study, and she intends to invoke an emotional response and spiritual stirrings within onlookers.